Letters of Recommendation, SLOEs, Applications, Personal Statements, and Interviews

Abstract

There are many parts to the application for Emergency Medicine (EM) residency—the Electronic Residency Application Service application (ERAS), Standardized Letters of Evaluation (SLOE) with or without narrative letters of recommendation, the personal statement, and the interview process. Each is a key piece of your overall application and having a good understanding of each component will help to make your application process go smoothly. According to prior research, the SLOE is the most important piece of the application to EM program directors. However, you should not neglect the other components of the application. Each piece of your application will give program directors more information on who you are as a person and as a future resident physician. In addition to EM rotations during medical school, your interview is the time when you can really stand out from the crowd in the eyes of residency leadership since it will likely be the only face-to-face time you have with residency leadership at most programs.